There's a well traveled story about a professor with a one-gallon jar and a dozen large rocks. After a little rearranging, he got all the rocks in the jar, filling it to the top. He then dumped in gravel until the spaces between the rocks were filled. Next, he poured in sand, shaking the jar so the sand filled the spaces between the rocks and the gravel. Finally, he emptied in a pitcher of water.

"What does this demonstration prove?" he asked his class.

One student said, "No matter how full your life seems, you can always take on a little more."

Another said, "Sequence and planning are important to maximizing productivity."

A third said, "It's about setting priorities. If I don't deal with the big rocks first, I'll end up with wet sand and gravel."

There's validity to each response, but the idea of identifying and dealing with the big rocks first is a particularly valuable insight.

We'll have a fuller and more fulfilling existence if we set our priorities – not only at work but in our life. Our relationships, work, spirituality, hobbies, and charitable causes all claim our attention. We have to decide what's really important.

Too often, we surrender control of our days, even the direction of our life, by letting circumstances or other people determine how we spend our time. Thus, we deal with what comes at us in the order it does, or we deal first with squeaking wheels and demanding people.

Unless we consciously distinguish between the rocks, gravel, sand, and water in our life, we'll likely neglect or forget the things that truly matter.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.